GATE Night Vision Forum Expert Bio: John Barbieri

Doesnt that kind of defeat the purpose of this forum and your involvement? I mean, if questions are asked and discussed here, a lot larger audience can learn and potentially purchase your NV equipment.

Our goal is to now stay on top of post replies (i.e answering in a timely manner from this point forward) and to address technical questions as best we can.

However, there are some occasions when technical oriented posts can't be fully addressed on a forum posting format. (Or I simply do not have the extra time to do a subject justice.) In that vain alone, I offer my personal consultanting services to our members on a direct contact bases. Otherwise I'll do what I can to help members herein.

USNV/Steve,
Thank you for your reply. I certainly understand the problem of explaining highly technical aspects in a forum setting and the time it would take. But if questions are posted, you (or others- we have some pretty smart guys here at GT) can answer to the level you deem appropriate and then refer the poster to a link or urge them to contact you for more details. That way your knowledge reaches Everyone who reads it instead of a single person. You could even post some sticky thread for FAQs and submoderators to take some of the burden off of your shoulders. I have seen this work at other sites and would LOVE to see an active I2/thermal forum here at GT.

(anyone: other than here in this subforum, i have never seen or heard of a forum message that all threads must be approved by moderator here at GT. has anyone else?)

I'm also scratching my head wondering where my first reply to you went! In the post I talked the ANVIS 6 &9 and about our own production of a digital viewer called the NiteMax (introducted years before the Bushnell unit) and our related market experiences as we attempted to establish the product line. Oh well....

In any event, we do not recommend low end commercial NV units for first responders for obvious reasons. You get what you pay for as they say....

Reference the tactical flashlight: In addition to a reachable weapon during evening hours I keep a 734 lumen LED flashlight by my side. I'm no expert, but one would think that an intruder would be completely blinded by this light. If it were indeed an intruder and not a family member stumbling around, the advantage is yours. The next step should be decided within seconds. One also has to remember that there is likely going to be more than one intruder and you should be prepared for that.

I've again seen another segment on Defense TV with Clint Smith recommending at least 3 Tac lights be on hand for emergency deployment. (Quote: "One's good, two's better and three's best....)

Of course, most of us are lucky to have just a single Tac light available when the chips are down and we need to move and possibly fight in an enclosed room event. My SureFire is always ready to go on the bedroom nightstand and if I can get to it, my AR carbine has a similar tac light mounted. I guess two out of three aint bad....

I've played with a PVS-14A Auto-Gated monocular with 3x Mil NV Lens mounted behind an NV compatible EOTech XPS-3 on one of my AR-15 carbines. To my surprise,...it actually worked quite well in the same way an EOTech 3x magnifier would perform during daytime applications. The ghost ring reticle was magnified 3x in NV mode and I actually liked it better than the 1x size. (Guess I'm getting old and need the larger reticle...)

That said, we now only offer military grade NV systems and accessories. These items by their very nature are not cheap unfortunately. While we would apply a discount to forum members this US made equipment commands priding well beyond commercial grade systems. If you already have a compatible PVS-14 series monocular, small arms weapon mount and EOTech XPS-3,...then we would be happy to quote you on the NV 3x magnifier. Just keep in mind that you need an extended rail on your AR to accommodate this setup.

You are correct in that FLIR has really put its competitors on the defensive with the recent introduction of some truely affordable hand-held thermal viewers. The PS24 & PS32 are standouts; they are small, lightweight systems boasting features that were unheard of just a few years ago.

I've personally played with the PS32 and was shocked how well it functioned. The actual size also surprised me as the promo photos make the unit look much larger than it really is. It was the listed weight of well under a pound that told me everything I needed to know but seeing it in the flesh was still an eye opener. This is the perfect system at add to a bug-out bag or survival kit!

As we have stated in the past, we offer discounts to NV blogers on this site. Please feel free to contact me for price and delivery info.

Would like to see more response on thermals and NV. I have a Gen 1 NV used for coyote . They love to plunder Ma an Pops chickens. Wanting a Thermal but waiting for prices to come to poor man status. Couple more years should be there.